Now We Shall Paint! Part 2

Last night I dreamt that I got acupuncture in my mouth. Weird. And totally unrelated.

Which brings me to...

Problem #2

DISTRACTIONS!

Call me irresponsible (I have been called that before), call me fickle (I have also been called that before), 

or suggest I be evaluated for adult ADD (I have only had that suggested to me once. By me.)  

Label how you want, but I have a hard time focusing. 

This seems to become especially bothersome when I am surrounded by messes. 

And painting is nothing but one big mess! 

So it shouldn't be surprising that in the middle of this:

("This" happens to be the contents of my bookshelves. On the kitchen table. Don't judge.)

I was distracted by this:

("This" happens the be the smallest screw I have ever seen in my life!)

I found this tiny screw on top of the kitchen cabinets. I was so intrigued by its size that I not only did I have to stop the paint project to take pictures of it by itself, but I also had to take comparison pictures. 

This is the smallest screw I have ever seen in my life in comparison to a grain of brown rice.

This is the smallest screw I have ever seen in my life in comparison to a grain of white rice.

Smallest screw ever and grains of rice. Amidst the chaos. 

Which brings me to this:

Who thought up this idea, anyway?

And now we shall paint!

Now We Shall Paint! Part 1

Kid Four is home from college for a way-too-short-visit and guess what? She needs money. So we made a deal. She will help me with a project. I will give her money. It's a win-win. I get a project buddy (and who doesn't love a project buddy?) and she gets money (and who doesn't love money?). It doesn't get much better than that!

So this week we shall paint the kitchen.

Grey.

Yes, you read that right. Grey. With an "e". Because I like how it looks that way.

For those of you who follow my persistent aversion to gray skies (with an "a" because I don't like them), you will recognize the irony of my choosing this color. But I promise. I don't take choosing a paint color lightly!

This can be a painting problem. One of many...

I'll break it down for you.

Problem 1 - Color

1. I actually have a horrible time picking paint colors. I can't "see" a color on my wall until I see it on my wall. Thus, I have become a paint sample junkie.

This is the beginnings of this particular project's collection. (Please note the words: "beginnings of". This was not an error. To display all of my paint samples would take a small warehouse.)

2. Even with all these samples I still have trouble finding just the right color. So I mix colors. Often.

Like this:

If I like my mix, I try it on my wall. If I don't like my mix, I try it on my wall.

Till my wall(s) looks like this:

If I like my mix on my wall then I paint it on the back of a business card, like this:

And I number it. And write the numbers on the wall next to the color. (Still with me? I know. I could have painted every house in the neighborhood by now!)

Then I wait to see in morning light.
      And evening light.
            And afternoon light.

And to see it on a sunny day.
      And a cloudy day.
           And a snowy day.

And to see it in the fall.
      And the winter.
          And the spring.
               And the summer.

(Yes, my wall has looked a little like the picture above for seasons. No, I am not making this up.)

So this time I finally did what any normal painting girl would do. I went to a store where I loved the color of paint on their walls and asked them about it. And then I brought a sample of that color home. And I put on my walls.

I loved it!

The color is: grey. With an "e". (That's not really the artsy name for the color. It's just the color it looks like.)

Pretty much everyone close to me has questioned this idea. Even Kid Four. Till I took her to the store. And then she agreed. It's fabulous!

So now we shall paint. Grey.

With an "e".

: )

The Miracle Diet

Ever seen those diet ads with the "Before" and "After" pictures that make it look like all the person did was learn how to stand up straight and suck in their gut? 

At our house we used to mock them. All. The. Time.

Partly because the ads are already that ridiculous. And partly because Kid Middle had a very talented gut. 

She taught herself how to be one of these ads one day. Then she showed us. 

And it became our nightly entertainment. 

We would all gather around and shout, "Before!!!" and Kid Middle would bend her knees, slump her shoulders, stick out her chin, and puff out her gut till she looked like an alien. 

(Really. She looked like an alien.)

Then we all would shout, "After!!!" and she would stand up straight and tall, cock her shoulders to the side like a weight lifter, flex her muscles, and suck in her gut till she looked anorexic. 

(Really. She looked anorexic. Alien. Anorexic. Alien. Anorexic. The difference was that extreme.)

And we would all roll on the floor laughing. 

Then we would give her a treat and shout, "Again!!!" 

(Not really. Well, not the treat part.)

We wasted huge amounts of time shouting, "Before!!!",  "After!!!",  "Again!!!"

and then rolling on the floor laughing. 

And Kid Middle was super awesome to indulge us. We called her trick, 

"The Miracle Diet". 

And it was the BEST! 

Well, lately the talk at our house has been about how Little Dog is really Not-So-Little-Anymore Dog. 

And I remembered about Kid Middle's trick. 

So I thought we would try the "The Miracle Diet" with him. 

Here are some before and after pictures. For your nightly entertainment.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Not-So-Little-Anymore Dog lost four inches in his belly, 

five collar notches in his neck, and regained his confidence. 

All in just a matter of hours. 

And he is Little Dog once more.

It's a Miracle!

*Note: Results not typical. 

(And this post could have also been entitled, "What I Neglect Sacrifice to Blog". Just sayin'...)

The Groove Thing

I absolutely have to start this post with some shout-outs!

First of all,  a very hearty thanks to all who commented, emailed, FB messaged, and called to give me tips for breaking out of my running funk. I am SO grateful for your support and encouragement!
Bonus: I got to find out who reads to their kids. And I will soon be setting up a lunch outing with Becki.
Becki who I have been trying to set up a lunch outing with since last October. 

Secondly, thanks so much for reading (and commenting about) my blog! 

It has been such fun for me to write and I love that you are enjoying it, too! 

So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

You are amazing and I feel truly blessed.

Now to my running groove that spent last week on vacay. And threw me into a serious funk. 

I'll just cut to the chase and let you know that it's ba-aaack! Hurray!! If you don't want to know how I got my groove back, you should probably just close this page now and return to whatever highly stimulating thing you were doing before needing the distraction of reading a blog. But if you do want to know how I got it back, stay with me. I'll try to keep it short. And entertaining... fun... inspiring?... eh, just short.

Lists are helpful for this. So I'll start with an easy list.

A List. Entitled: "What Works"
1.  I wrote a blog post. It helped me vent. And gave me great ideas. From all of you. This works!

2.  I ate a lot of junk. This works. For about 10 minutes. Then you need more junk. It's a vicious cycle. Breaking this cycle is on my this week's to-do list. I fully expect to be able to conquer it. For 10 minutes of every hour.

3.  I didn't do anything that I normally "should" do. Like dishes or laundry or exercising. Or blogging. This works. Until there are no more clean dishes. Or clean clothes. And people start asking if you ever plan to blog again. I have all these things on my this week's to-do list, too.

4.  I called Amy C. You should know that Amy C is really A-mazing C! She is a life coach and an avid outdoors girl. She also runs. And races. But she runs insane distances. Like 50 miles. And when you've lost your groove there is not a better person to have on your side! You should check out her out at www.expandoutdoors.com. She's a great writer and has a very inspiring blog. Her site is definitely worth a visit.

She is also married to my brother which makes her ultra-super-cool! Here is a picture from their wedding. I was there. I may have taken this photo. I may not have. I don't really know. I just know that my camera was at the wedding, too. Somewhere.

5.  A-mazing C asked some really good and thought-provoking questions and suggested I document the answers. This made me think. And write. And I figured out some really important things about running. And me. This worked for WAY longer than 10 minutes. And I won't have to do anything about it on my this week's to-do list. Yay!!

6.  Using my writing, and following advice from A-mazing C I came up with a strategy.

I'll put it into a new easy list for you.

A new list. Entitled: "My Strategy"
1.  Compile a really great running playlist with songs I've been avoiding for a few weeks so I wouldn't wear them out before race day. This helped.

2.  Go to the pre-race expo and pick up our race packets. I usually send The Man to do this. When I went this time I honestly thought it was kind of boring. But...

3.  ...In the running store next to the pre-race expo I talked to an ultra-amazing 79-year-old woman. (Not boring!!) She was little and fit and didn't begin running till she was 49. She's been told she should stop now, but can't give it up. She runs 10 races a year, most of them half marathons, but 2 of them full marathons. SO inspiring! And the best part? She likes to wear compression socks to run in because they help her old, sore feet, right? But she was worried they would look silly with the running capris she planned to wear on race day. How cute is that? When I grow up I want to be her. I wish I had taken a picture of her. For the inspirational side of my fridge.

4.  When still feeling funky late on Friday night, shift gears and settle on a list of three simple race day goals. This helped. A lot!

Here they are, in another new easy list.

Another new list. Entitled: "My 3-Step Race Day Plan". (Hint: It has three steps.)
1.  I will not focus on my goal time. (I’ll just think about it. As I check my time at every mile marker.)

2.   I will completely focus on enjoying the run and the race day energy to finish strong, happy and uninjured.

3.  I will smile.

(Number 3 was A-mazing C's suggestion. It turned out to be the best advice ever!)

And then I took really pointless (but relevant) pictures. Because I know that blogs are more fun to read with pointless (but relevant) pictures.

Here is my bib number. You wear this on your front side. I always fold mine over and make it smaller. 

I'm sure you're glad to know.

This is the timing chip. You put it on your shoelaces with twisty ties. 

It keeps track of exactly when you start and finish the race. 

It is littler than me. And smarter too. It can probably do your taxes. 

These are my running shoes. I love my running shoes. Notice above timing chip affixed with twisty ties.

This is the BEST race tee EVER! What you can't see in this pic is how it feels. One word. YUM! 

The fabric is insanely lightweight and Oh, So Soft! If it were a buttered roll, I would eat it. 

Bonus: The women's version is cut for... a woman.

So this brings me to race day.

(Did I say something about this post being short? Pretty sure that by short I really meant entertaining... fun... inspiring?... er, nope. Just loooong. I'll make up for this later in the week. Promise.)

Now I will put my race day experience into another new easy list for you.

And another new list. Entitled: "My Race Day"
1.  On the way to the race I wrote on my hand. It was sloppy and looked like this.

If you can't tell, my hand says, "I Got This", "Run Strong", and " : ) ". 

(Last race it said, "Having a baby hurts worse.")

I need lotion. And to shave my hand.

2.  Five minutes before crossing the start line the pump-you-up music started and I was suddenly all caught up in the race day energy that I love so much. And WHOOSH! I remembered why I race! Because I love the race!! And I remembered why I run! Because I love the run! I had no idea that just being there would throw my funk away.

This is me just being there. It's early, and cold, and when I don't normally look that perky. Or blurry.

3.  I ran a really great race. And smiled all the way through. It was FUN! And I loved it.

4.  I reached all the goals in my 3-Step Race Day Plan. I finished strong, happy, and uninjured!

5.  Bonus: I far surpassed the time goal I've been working toward for nearly a year. That goal? To finish a half marathon in under two hours. And I did it! I finished in under 2:00:00. In fact, I finished in 1 hour, 54 minutes, and 19 seconds. Technically, it looks like this. 1:54:19. Doesn't that look good?

*Breathes in. And breathes out a Very Satisfied Sigh. *

The finisher's medal. 

(What the tee gave us in greatness, the medal made up for.)

All in all, it was a mentally tough week with a really happy ending. And I learned a lot about running. And racing. But mostly I learned a lot about myself and my fears, frustrations and anxieties.

One of the most important things this time around? 

Below. In a last new easy list.

Last new list. Entitled: "What I Learned That You Should Know

Because Maybe One Day It Will Help You Out Of A Funk, Too"

1.  Sometimes all you have to do is just show up.

Amy C says that, "Just showing up = Just letting go". I think she might be right.

Yesterday I...

Yesterday I broke my daily routine and...

    1. Visited some people that I really like. A lot.
    2. Skipped doing the dishes.
    3. Ate some of my favorite chocolates. And by some, I mean four serving sizes. More than a full day's
        worth of calories. Just in chocolates.
    4. Made breakfast for dinner. Cheesy scrambled eggs and whole wheat blueberry pancakes. With bacon.
        Two pounds of bacon.
    5. Skipped running. And weight-lifting. And core work. And anything else exercise related.
        Except for bathing Little Dog.

Today I...

    1. Did not weigh myself.

Race day is 2 days, 10 hours, and 13 minutes away.

And I am still in a funk. This can't possibly be any fun for you. So I decided to share a picture.

When I'm not in a funk it makes me smile. 

Okay, so when I AM in a funk it makes me smile, too.
:-)

Some Run For... FUN?

Here are some

who like to run. 

They run for fun 

in the hot, hot sun.

I think I should have contests and give out special prizes. If I did I would have a "name that book" contest and give a really awesome and meaningful prize to the first one to tell me where this verse came from. 

(And by "awesome and meaningful" I mean "delicious and fattening".)

It's race week at our house and this little verse has been pounding through my head.

Partly because I woke up to this:

Call me whiny, but it hardly seems fair that some really do get to run for fun in the hot, hot sun 

while I still have to endure this...at the end of March.

But that's not all. I'm having another issue here. See that word, "fun"? That's my problem. I usually love to run and really do run for fun. But lately I feel like I have been training for a long time, and am here to boldly admit that I am a little tired of it. Especially since I got back from SoCal.

I just feel fresh outta fun.

I'd like to think that it has mostly to do with the weather. Too many days of no hot, hot sun. In fact, months on end of no sun at all.

Maybe even years.

But it just might be more than that. For all you runners out there (and if you can walk to the fridge and back that counts), here is a small list of my immediate running grievances.

1. No sun. Really. This is a super big one for me. The lack of sunshine leaves me lethargic and stubbornly interferes with my motivation.

2. No sun + cold. I do not enjoy running in the cold. It leaves my muscles stiff and tired. It's hard to get out the door and I come home chilled.

3. No sun + cold + sun & warmth for a day + no sun + cold again. Honestly, I did okay with the cold and gray running for awhile. But after one unseasonably warm day in February there was no going back. And I've hardly been able to get my foot out the door since. As for the treadmill? Well, I've pushed myself to do it, but I haven't liked it. At all.

4. My last long training run was hard...and slow...and miserable. And discouraging.

So, now what? On Saturday I have a half marathon that I don't want to run. I have even trained for a goal time, and it's the best course I'll race this year to reach that goal.

But I have No. Desire. To. Run.
None.
Nada.
Zip.
This is entirely new territory for me!

Clearly, I am in a rut. A big, fat, sloppy, cold rut.

And now I am not only looking for, but actually soliciting advice. I can hear The Man gasp about this from 20 miles away.

So, even if you don't run I know there are different things in your life that you do for fun. But sometimes you still get in a rut about them, right? (Please say I'm right.)

So the question is this:
How do you get yourself back to that fun thing being fun again, especially when you need it to be the most?

Please, share this around as much as you can. Because I need HELP!

And I only have 4 days, 10 hours, 15 minutes, and 32 seconds to figure it out...

Finding True Love

Warning: Completely Frivolous Post Below.
(Unless you are anything like me. Then you know how truly serious this is.)

In SoCal I found True Love.  Honest.

It looks like this...

And this:

LOVE!

LOVE!!

LOVE!!!

I like to think in my head that True Love is on my feet. (Cue dreamy music...)

And I am wearing a creamy evening gown. With very tasteful and carefully placed embellishments.

My hair in a lovely chignon.

Long drop earrings from some really expensive jewelry place that I actually know the name of. 

(This does not include the WalMart.)

No neck bling...

But a pedicure on my toes, toes!

And perfect make-up. Like Carrie Underwood.

In True Love and a creamy evening gown with very tasteful and carefully placed embellishments 

I am ever so gracefully...

.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................

  

Doing the dishes!

(Or driving The Little Man to soccer.

                Or Little Dog to the vet. Or home from the groomer.
                                                                                  
                                           And scrubbing toilets.

                                                                      And wondering, "Do these shoes really go with this gown?")

Here is where True Love has officially met True Life. Oy.

True Love comes at a price. The price is $1850. Pretty sure there is a misplaced decimal. It's really $18.50.

In my head.

SoCal - 13 Steps to Awesome!

And by awesome, I mean...

awe-some
[aw-suh m] - adj.
    1. inspiring awe
    2. showing or characterized by awe

One day my best traveling Gal Pal and I took a day trip to Torrey Pines State Park.

 To get a lesson in awe-some. 

If you've never been there, you should go. 

It's quiet, and clean, and a stunning mix of ocean, beach and sky. 

And hilly land.

I took pictures. They don't do it justice. Not even close. 

But I tried. So that you could have a lesson in awe-some, too. 

13 Steps to Awe-some

1. Park really far away from where this picture was taken. Walk along the beach toward the mountainside. Remember that the term "mountain" is very relative.

2. Walk up the hill and find the trailhead of your choosing. 

There are many choices. And all of them are good! 

What could be better than a place with all good choices? 

Awe-some already!

 3. Admire the interesting landscape and fun flora.

I like flora.

And Flora. 

(Flora is a friend of mine. She does not look anything like these pics. But I like her.)

4. Breathe in the spectacular and awe-some panoramic views! 

5. Notice the cloud cover coming in. And be glad you brought a sweater.

6. Venture down to the beach and snap some cool shots.  

(Look at the couple in the left of that photo. Aren't they just about awe-some?)

7. Play in the soft and yummy sand.

(not my feet)

8. People watch.

  

9. Wait for the clouds to break and wish for a sunset.

10. Look more closely and see...


...DOLPHINS!!!

(Seriously. Look back. It was there already. A little tiny fin. Now big.
Not the same fin.)

Ok. So these aren't great pics of dolphins, but still....

 ...DOLPHINS!!

I didn't even know I should wish for dolphins!

Look below! Two in one pic!!

If you count fins. I count fins.

This is all kinds of AWE-SOME!

Okay, I know. Enough dolphin pictures, already. 

But I was just so excited about them!

(I'm a Midwestern girl. I don't get out much.)

11. Look to the left...

to the right...

and straight ahead.

12. And wait a little longer.

(waiting)

(still waiting)

(and waiting)

For this...

and this...

and this.

So Awe-Some!


13. Be sure not to miss one last chance to look back before leaving.

And that my friends, is exactly how you do awe-some.

End of lesson.